Bahrain…Land of Peace

Abdullah Al Alami*

Dec 30, 2023

I write today about two important topics, King Hamad Global Center for Peaceful Coexistence, and the national and global excellence of the University of Bahrain.

What brought together representatives of different religions in Manama this week under one roof? I mean the Apostolic Vicariate of the Northern Arabian Peninsula, representatives of the Orthodox Churches, the Council of the Ten Commandments, the Baha'i Community, the head of the Hindu community, and representatives of other religions.

It is the event held by the King Hamad Global Center for Peaceful Coexistence in cooperation with the Sacred Heart Catholic Church, under the title “Bahrain... Land of Peace”. Representatives of the various Christian, Jewish, Hindu, and Sikh religions, in addition to the Baha'i Social Society, participated in the event.

Everyone here stood praying to make the Kingdom of Bahrain a land of love, and to promote the values ​​of coexistence, tolerance, and dialogue between religions, cultures, and civilizations.

It is the Declaration of the “Kingdom of Bahrain”... the international document to establish religious tolerance and peace.

The second topic is the University of Bahrain being ranked first in the Kingdom. We’re talking about global university rankings for sustainability for the year 2023, and 25th in the world, in education and research.

This is what I call “a great success story”, as the university is keen on sustainability in its strategic plans to improve the administrative, academic, and student affairs aspects. The university also seeks to continue its excellent research on energy, climate change, transportation, and waste management.

The university also excels in water management, scoring 90%, in rationalizing water consumption, recycling water, and combating water pollution on campus.

Thanks to the Finance and Economic Affairs Committee in the House of Representatives, for reviewing the record of violations in the oversight report for 2022-2023. Also, Bahrain’s gross domestic product increased by 2.5% in the third quarter, Bahrain’s non-oil economy grew by 4.5%, and Manama now leads the Gulf in combating money laundering, and is among the top ten in the world in information technology.

Happy New Year.

*Saudi writer